The new XIII
by Miruki-Mimiko
Summary: Train and Sven find out that Chronos has taken a new number XIII. Though they know it was bound to happen, the two are shocked when they find that the boy is only fifteen! How will they react to this child assassin? And how will he react to them?
1. The young Number

Hey! This is my third story! :3 Now, I feel I've been relatively decent with remembering to post, so I started this Black Cat fic. I love Black Cat, and felt that I just _had_ to do this! :3 So yeah, here it is :3

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Two men sat at their usual shop, and were being attended to by the owner.

Train and Sven had come to Annette's shop often. Though it was usually for information, the two had just come for drinks at the moment, while Eve was out on a walk. However, Annette had told them she wanted to talk, so they started a conversation.

"So, Annette," Train said, stretching; the bell around the brunette's neck chimed as he did so, "what did you want to talk to us about?" He laid his head on the bar, intently looking up at Annette. "I'll be honest when I say you've gotten me interested, now."

"Well," Annette said, Train noting a half-worried tone, "Really, this is more something I want Train to know, rather than Sven. But I think it's good for the both of you to hear this." She paused, and took a deep breath. "You see," she said, looking like she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell or keep quiet, then decided to tell, "if the rumors are true, Chronos has found a new number thirteen."

At that, Train automatically sat straight, making the tattoo of a roman numeral thirteen on his chest visible. "A new thirteen?" he asked, looking at Annette, curiously. The look he gave practically begged for more information on the subject.

"Yes," Annette said, "They're just rumors, but I don't want to doubt them, just yet. It's best to wait and see." She started polishing bottles, not sure if she wanted to continue. There was an uncomfortable silence that dragged on for at least a minute before she spoke up again. "From the rumors he's oriental," she said, "from some far eastern country. I also heard concerning rumors about his age."

"His age?" Sven asked, now curious, lighting another cigarette as he asked, "What about his age?" He looked towards Annette, who sighed, now a bit curious himself.

"From the rumors," she replied, "he's close to fifteen." She paused again, looking at the men's shocked faces. She decided not to say anymore and continued working around the shop.

"That's a little too young to be an Eraser," Sven commented. He jumped as train raised up, obviously angry, now.

"A _little_!?" Train said, anger in his voice, "That's _way_ too young to be an Eraser! Let _alone_ a _Chrono Number_! What has gotten into Chronos!? Letting someone that young join! He's still just a ked!"

"I think we've had enough conversation," Sven said, getting up, "Train, let's go back now. Eve's probably home waiting for us to get back." He sighed when Train shook his head.

"You go back, Sven," Train said, "I'm going to take a walk of my own. I need to clear my head right now." He then left the shop, both the bell on the door and around his neck chimed as he walked out. He walked the streets for a while, then found that it didn't help him at all. So, he jumped onto a nearby roof and laid down. "This should cool my head," he said, falling asleep. He stayed asleep for a while, until dark.

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When Train woke up, he was still on the roof. It was night, and dark. It was late enough so that many of the lights were already off. He looked around, seeing a boy that looked around fifteen sitting nearby, apparently surveying the city, from what Train saw. His hair was long and black, and he had fair skin. That was all Train could take note of from his vantage in that dark. He looked at the boy, wondering if he would say something, or look back.

The boy did look back at Train, allowing Train to take note of the chocolate brown eyes, as well. When scooting a little closer, Train could make out a tattoo on the side of his neck, but he couldn't make out what it was. The boy then looked back over the city without giving Train a second glance.

Train was intrigued, now. He walked up to the boy, gesturing next to him. "Do you mind?" he asked, asking to sit down next to the boy. This let him examine the boy a little more closely. From the looks of things, he probably wasn't a people-person. An interesting blade was strapped across his back. It looked more like two swords with their hilts connected, each blade curving in the opposite direction.

"I don't," the boy replied with a shrug, "but then again, I don't see why you couldn't stay seated either. He looked up at Train, glancing up and down as if surveying. Train could have sworn he saw a smile cross the boy's features for a second. Then he started to look down, giving Train the ability to see what he wanted. The tattoo on the boy's neck was of a roman numeral thirteen.

Train smiled, sitting down next to the boy. "I'm Train, by the way," he said. He held out his hand to the boy, to be friendly. He didn't expect the boy's reply at all.

"I'm Shin," the boy said, shaking Train's hand, "It's nice to meet my predecessor, _Black Cat. You've certainly set the bar high for me, you know?" A small smirk tugged at the boy's face at Train's shocked expression. "You're not the only one who can figure things out on their own, Black Cat," he said with a smile, "I have a knack for it, myself."_

_Train smiled. "You're a sharp one," he said. He looked at the weapon on the boy's back. "That's some blade," he said, "I've never seen anything like it. He was shocked when Shin smiled and took the blade off of his back, pulling on the hilts and allowing the blade to turn into two swords!_

"_It's specially made," Shin said, re-connecting the two hilts to form one blade again, "I can disconnect and re-connect the hilt. That makes me able to use this as one dual-bladed sword, or two single-bladed ones. It's something special, alright." He unsheathed one of the blades after disconnecting the hilt, and ran his finger along it. "Made of Orichalcon, with roman numeral thirteen etched on each blade. This sword is just as important to me as your Hades is to you, Black Cat."_

_Train smiled, then looked to Shin. "Hey, can I ask you something?" he asked, looking at Shin now._

"_That depends on what you want to ask," Shin stated, re-connecting the hilts and strapping the weapon back on his back. _

"_Why would someone you age join Chronos? Become a Chrono Number?" He looked at the boy, disappointed when Shin shook his head._

"_That's something for another day," Shin replied, "We're still practically strangers, after all. Maybe when we get to know each other a little better, Black Cat." At that he smiled and left, leaving Train by himself._

"_I wish he'd stop calling me that," Train said. He had no desire to be called his old name. The name he was called by when he was in Chronos. "Well, I should get going, before I get bickered at by Sven. Well, bickered at more than I'm already bound to be bickered at." And with that, Train left the roof, still thinking about the boy he had just talked to. Shin, Cronos's new number thirteen._


	2. Freedom

Okkkaaayyy, SORRY FOR NOT POSTING IN SO LONG! I intended to do a lot more writing than I did over summer. You can blame Gaia Online for that one ^^; Anyway, while summer's still in session, I'm going to try to update some of my stories! I'm going to start, after this, with Unusual Betrothal. After that I have an idea for a Yugioh GX/Tokyo Mew Mew crossover I wanna do. Well, you'll see when the time comes ;D Anyway, let's get to the second chapter of The New XIII~

Erm, I'm not really sure what to do in the way of pairings, if those of you reading this would like them. Review this chapter with possible pairings you'd like to see in New XIII, to give me an idea. We'll see what comes of it.

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Train and his partner, Sven, were outside of a large building. The walls went several meters up, and one could barely see past them. Train looked up, and gave a small whistle as he looked at the manor. "Security seems lax tonight," he said, looking around to see no guards, "This should be an easy catch, how boring." However, about that time, they heard several screams come from inside the premesis. Train and Sven were on full alert as Sven busted down the gate with his weapon case. They both rushed in, Train perking up a little. "Someone else seems to be after the target!~ We have a little competition, Svenny-baby!" he said as he and Sven ran onto the premesis, taking his gun in hand.

"What have I said about calling me that!?" Sven said, rushing behind Train, making sure his hat didn't fall off. The green­-haired sweeper looked around the grounds. He thought it was weird that no security was on the grounds. Something was happening. "Train, keep your guard up. There's no telling who's after him!" he yelled as they entered the building, getting only a nod from Train as the two went upstairs. When they got upstairs, they knew it was no sweeper. Security guards were sprawled at random intervals across the floor, slash gashes and eyes rolled back, dead. "It looks like an assassin is in our midst," Sven said as he lit a cigarette, rushing next to Train to try to get to the target.

However, when they got to the room, both men were in shock. Again, dead security guards littered the room, and their target also lay dead at the feet of a familiar face, at least familiar to Train. Long, black hair adorned a small boy's frame. As he turned, chocolate brown eyes fixed solely on Train's bright gold ones. Shin walked up to Train with a small smile on his features, chocolate brown eyes never leaving Train's all the while. "You're a little late, Black Cat," he said, tossing his raven hair over his shoulders, connecting his sword(which was currently in double-bladed mode), before putting it back on his back. "I hope to see you again tonight."

With that, Shin walked off, as if nothing were wrong, leaving Train and Sven in shock, especially Sven. The green-haired sweeper turned to his partner with a shocked look in his eyes. "You've met that kid before, Train!?" he asked, getting only a small nod in reply from Train. "What happened? Who is that kid? Is that why you were late last night!?" Sven bombarded Train with questions, getting no answers as the brunette simply shrugged them off and holstered Hades, walking off. "Train, answer me!" Sven said, finally getting fed up with his questions being ignored. He got a small nod from Train and went silent almost immediately.

"His name is Shin," Train said as they walked back to base, "He didn't tell me much about himself. We only talked for a minute or so before he left. He's Chronos's new XII, Sven. A kid that age is a Number." Train's head hung a little, then let out a small sigh as he walked, "A kid that age is out there killing people, when he should be in school or something!" Train was obviously upset, as he had a right to be when someone that age was killing. He couldn't help but wonder how the kid had even gotten into Chronos anyway, why a kid that age was doing that. Train just sighed as they finisehd their walk to the hideout.

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When they returned to the hideout, Train sat down on the couch, trying not to bother the sleeping form of Eve. The young man was puzzled, curious. Then, he remembered what Shin said. _"I hope to see you again tonight." _Train bolted into an upright position. "Sven, I'm going out!" he said as he rushed outside. He knew where Shin would be; at least he thought he knew. Train had a good instinct, though. So, he followed it. His instinct lead him to where he met Shin last night, wondering if Shin would be there, he rushed in the direction of the building's rooftop, not even paying attention to the fact that the boy may not even be there.

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When he got there, Train was pleased to see the young boy sitting on the ledge of the rooftop much like he was doing last night. He walked up to him and sat down, not bothering to ask permission again. "Hey there, Shin," he said with a smile. He didn't get a reply from the boy, so he just sat down, looking over the city. After a little quiet, Train spoke up again. "Shin, why are you with Chronos? I know I asked you this yesterday, but I just can't get it out of my head. Why is someone your age killing, when you should be in school, or out with friends? It just doesn't make sense to me, Shin." He turned to Shin, who, to his surprise, turned to face him.

"I told you, Black Cat," he said, looking back over the city, "I'm not ready to tell you yet. I will tell you in time, but not now. I have to admit, I'm curious myself, about you. Why did you leave? Why leave Chronos when you had a much easier financial life, just to become a sweeper?" The boy was still looking over the city. He was waiting for an answer, Train could tell, and he wasn't going to take "I'm not telling" as an answer like Train did.

Train let out a heavy sigh, turning to face the boy. "It's true I'm not as stable as I was back in Chronos," Train said, "but, it's the life I prefer. I left because I was tired of being ordered around by Chronos. I wanted to do something else, to be free to make my own decisions, that's all. I wanted freedom, so I could be myself and make the choices I want to make. I didn't have that back then. I was always being told what to do, what not to do. I was getting tired of being bossed around." He turned to Shin, who was wearing a small smirk as if saying that he had said something wrong. "What?" he asked, curious for Shin's opinion on the matter.

Shin just turned to face him and stood up. "There's no such thing as 'freedom', Black Cat." he said as he looked over the city, "That is merely an ideal. No one is ever truly free of being commanded. Take yourself for instance. You say you left Chronos for freedom, to keep from being told what to do. However, look at things this way. Your life as a sweeper is no different. You have to listen to the police and other people to say who you're able to capture for ransom. Sweeping has rules you're forced to abide by. You have to listen to your partner when you're making plans of how to get your target. There are still multiple people and organizations you have to listen to as a sweeper. You're not free of being told waht to do, Black Cat. Everyone is told what to do throughout their lifetime. No one is truly free. They have rules they have to abide by, codes they have to follow, certain people they always have to listen to. Your life as a sweeper is no different than your life from Chronos in retrospect. Anyway, it's getting late. I'll leave you to mull this over. I'll see you again, Black Cat."

"Call me Train!" Train finally said to the boy as he smiled and lept off. Train sighed, then taking in everything that Shin just said. Was it true? Was there really no difference between him now, and back in Chronos? Maybe he liked it because he only _felt_ like he was free. Maybe Shin had a point when he said there was no such thing as true freedom. Train let out a small sigh as he continued back to base. He had no idea what to think, now that Shin had said that. Was he really living the same way? Was he really not living as freely as he thought he was? He let out a small sigh as he walked towards the hideout. He would mull this all over later. Right now, he wanted nothing other than some good old fashioned sleep.


End file.
